Mixed media including wood, cement, wattle and daub and paint
150 x 900cm.
2011
Quicken addresses the sanctity of human life by confronting the self-destructive trajectory of our species, the misdeeds of man and society’s increasing alienation from our shared spirituality. I modelled it after a minaret, which I broke in sections as a demonstrative gesture of the discord wrought by man.
Originally inspired by reports of a suicide bombing at a mosque in Afghanistan, I see this work as a metaphor that speaks of greater things… a messenger of the failure of communication and the brutality which ensues. It declares a state of emergency for our earthly co-habitation, but not without hope for resilience.
Within the sculpture’s core, viewers will notice the faint beating of a heart. This recording, taken at the moment of a baby’s birth, leads the viewer away from the horror of modern warfare and returns him to the divine rhythm of life at its most innocent.
